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UTILITY MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 23, 2010
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Utility Committee Chair Cindy Endicott. Present for the meeting were chair Endicott; supervisors Jeff Bachke and John Goman; MSA representatives Jerome Flogel and Eric Sautbine; Scott Kyrola of Northland Constructors (NC), David Bolf of Salo Engineering, residents Mark North and Rick Hanson and clerk Cammy Hansen.
A motion to approve the January 20, 2009 meeting minutes was made by Cindy and seconded by Jeff. All vote in favor with minutes to be placed in file.
Northland Constructors: Cindy introduced Scott and David to discuss the proposed sewer/water extension for the Northland Constructors property. Scott referenced a map that was posted for the committee to view and showed where the proposed line would lie. He pointed out the location of the Calvary Auto property, which NC recently purchased, the existing NC building and the proposed location for a new NC office building. Dave expanded on the plans including trying to utilize a gravity system to about 300 feet north of the manhole at the corner of Rice Lake and W. Calvary Roads and then a forcemain north of that. That would allow three services to be installed. The watermain line would be bored from the west (shouldn’t this be east?) side of the Rice Lake Road to the three properties to be serviced. He also mentioned that the phone line, power line and gas lines would have to be worked around. Jeff summarized: Greg, Cammy, Jeff, our attorney and two MSA representatives met with NC three weeks back to discuss this project. NC would like to extend the lines, at their expense, to their northern property line. We asked our attorney if we could legally do this. The Town would like the line extended and NC would like the line extended, so we do have some common goals and are trying to work through this project. One concern the Town has is if NC is allowed to recover any of their costs by future residents hooking up to the line. At this point, Jeff also wanted to point out that our engineer (MSA) would review Salo’s engineering plan for approval, when the line was being installed, MSA would inspect it from the Township’s perspective and these costs would be picked up by NC. When the line was completed, ownership would be turned over to the Township. There would be three services installed. Currently there are storage buildings on the East side of Rice Lake Road, but these do not currently have water or sewer services, so would not be required to connect to the new line under our Ordinance. The only other occupied property is on the NE corner of the Rice Lake and W. Calvary Roads and is already connected to the municipal lines. NC requests that if there is any further development on the east side of the road that they be allowed to recoup a portion of their cost of installing the lines. At this point our attorney and the Town began to question whether this may be perceived as “skirting the bidding process” but agree that we (Rice Lake and NC) have a common goal in wanting to extend the line. Scott agreed that this was a good summary of the process to date. That question has not yet been resolved. Cindy asked where the homes are in this area. Scott answered that the homes are north of the property in question. Cindy asked why the storage buildings would not be required to connect. Cammy answered that there is no current need for service on that property as there is no water or septic facility. If the property were to be further developed i.e. toilets/sinks were installed, connection to the municipal lines would then be required. Jeff then stated that the question then becomes “who would get the connection fee?” Our attorney said there are ways this can be done, but we need to further review that. Cindy asked why it would look like the Town would be skirting the bidding process if the Town would not take ownership of the line until it has been completed. Rick Hanson asked Scott if NC wanted to get paid if additional people connect. Scott answered that NC is making a significant investment and would like to explore the options of being able to recover some of their costs at a fair value. They would at least like to get a percentage of their money back. Dave stated that his understanding from the attorney was that she didn’t know of a mechanism by which a public entity could reimburse a private entity. This is one of the things she is going to research. Cindy pointed out that Minnesota Power has a “development agreement” that it uses in such cases as this that has a five year limit on it. Again, Scott stated they would be happy to get a small percentage of the price per foot. Cammy will set up a meeting with Mary Frances to further discuss this possibility. Scott mentioned that they would be satisfied with getting 25 percent of the cost per foot. Scott mentioned another option of possibility not extending the line to the northern-most lot of the NC property at this time, but possibly in the future. Jerome asked if there is currently a building on that lot. Scott clarified that no, there is not at this time, but that is where the planned new office would be built. Cammy stated that if the plan is to build the new building, the line must be extended for that purpose. All agree that yes, the main purpose here is the new office building, so the option of only installing the line to the current office building does not make sense. Dave asked Jerome about the wetland delineation as his conversation with the Corps of Engineers indicated a lengthy approval process. Jerome thinks that the Corps has the entire permit package already and it should really not take that long to approve. Dave also mentioned that the Corp discussed breaking the plan into Phase 1, which would extend to the northern edge of the NC property and Phase 2, which would extend north to the Martin Rd. Jerome said that is his interpretation as well; that the Corps can repackage the application and not require a brand new application. Cindy asked if a WLSSD permit will need to be submitted. Jerome said that a sewer extension permit must be applied for as our permit only extended north to the W. Calvary Road. Dave asked Jerome if he thinks they should apply for a permit that would extend all the way to the proposed lift station. Jerome says that is up to NC, but if it wouldn’t increase timing or costs, MSA would prefer that. Jerome and Dave will talk with Dan Belden at WLSSD to get his input. Scott asked if there is a time limit on the permit. Jerome is not sure, that is a question for Dan. Jerome stated that we would like to service NC but to have it fit into the Town’s long range plan. There is some question as to whether the depth of the line would allow a gravity system; the line is shallower that initially thought. Scott mentioned that there would not be a big difference in price. MSA and Salo will figure that out. Dave pointed out that this initial drawing is very preliminary. Cammy said she will schedule the meeting with Mary Frances. Jerome and Dave will set up a meeting with Dan Belden. Scott asked if there were any further questions of NC and/or Salo. Dave said that NC’s intent is to privately build this line and then turn it over to the Town. If the project were to be publicly bid, there most likely would not be a project. Jeff responded that the part he is getting hung up on is how future hook up monies would go to NC. If that were not part of the equation, there wouldn’t be an issue, but we want to be sure we are being fair to all parties. Scott and Dave left the meeting at this point.
Rick Hanson: Spoke with Dan Berg of the City of Duluth regarding sewer gas. He concurred that the system for Rice Lake is slightly overbuilt to allow for future expansion, not all of the homes are connected to the system and food waste at the school may exacerbate the odor problem. He recommends that the system be pumped more often. Jerome agrees that pumping may help as the real problem is the time that the material spends in the pipe. But in order to do that, approximately 8,000 gallons of water would need to be flushed through the system. Rick and Jerome had some further discussion regarding pumping the sewage and various ways the City has proposed to deal with these types of issues. Jerome gave the committee some information regarding treatment options: Siemens chemical treatment: $50,000 set up and $3,500 annual expense; Metpro carbon based: $28,000 set up and $1,150 annual expense; Hawkins chemical liquid phase: $10,000 annual expense; MSA vapor biological: $10,000 set up, $2,000 annual expense; MSA vapor carbon: $2,000.00 set up, $700 annual expense. Jerome recommends taking the least expensive route and work our way up if that isn’t successful. First we would extend the discharge pipe below the water surface to reduce the turbulence. Second, the carbon filter would be installed; the carbon will work, it’s really a matter of how long the carbon will last (how often it would need to be replaced.) The chemical treatment would be a last resort. Rick asked how the carbon would be disposed of once it was used up. Jerome said that the current customer of MSA’s that uses this method disposes of it in the landfill. Rick asked about capping the vent. Jerome doesn’t believe that would work as the air would be dispersed someplace. Rick asked if installing a pipe that would bring the gases up to a higher elevation is an option. Jerome answered that yes, that theory is correct; it is a matter of how to support a proposed stack. Jeff summarized that the first step will be to extend the length of the pipe to the water surface to reduce the turbulence.
Rick asked if the Town researched whether or not we can pass on the cost of the water loss (on E. Calvary and Kolstad) to the General Fund. Cammy said she spoke with Mary Frances about that and Mary Frances stated that it would most likely need to be treated as a loan to the Utility Fund. That would have to be determined by the Supervisors. It would need to be repaid by the Utility Fund and therefore defeats the purpose. Rick wonders how the City of Duluth would do this. Rick believes that the cost of the water that is being leaked should be spread over the entire Township. He said he has also heard that there are homes along the Arnold Road that are illegally connected to the water line. He asked if there is a way to test that. Jerome said there is no metering in place to measure use road by road. Cindy clarified that Rick believes that there is more to this than a leak; he believes people are using water without paying for it. Jerome said that yes that is a possibility. Mark North seconds everything Rick is saying. Rick said that it is nice to have city water and sewer but believes the key is to keep it affordable. Jeff let the committee know that the Town has met with Congressman Oberstar’s office manager. She seemed cautiously optimistic that there would be an additional stimulus package. The board has authorized MSA to proceed with a design for the E. Calvary/Kolstad/Milwaukee/Chicago so that if stimulus funds do become available the Town will be ready to make application. Cammy mentioned that a representative from Minnesota Rural Water Assn. will also be here on Thursday with some leak detection equipment to see if we can get some additional information as to where leaks may be located. Cindy asked if water meters can be bypassed. Yes, they can. Cammy pointed out that part of the annual audit that the Town does is to detect this type of thing.
Mark asked about the possibility of additional funding (stimulus money.) Jerome stated that we are on the Project Priority List at this time. He recommends that we also go onto the Intended Use Plan. We should be receiving a letter shortly regarding that process. Jerome thinks that our strongest point regarding receiving funding for this project is that this could be considered a “green project.” Water loss was a specific item that was considered under the green project category. More information will come within the next couple of weeks.
Mark also commented on the NC project. He believes that the recovery of funds is the same as what W. Calvary residents were proposing as well and were shot down. He understands where NC is coming from and says that he would also like to recover some of the money he paid for his assessment if additional users connect to the W. Calvary line. Jerome stated that the difference is that NC is a private project and W. Calvary was assessed. Mark states that he believes that’s how it should have been done in the first place.
Lift Station #1 Meter: The meter is currently not functioning. Jerome is not concerned; he believes that WLSSD will take care of it when Tim (from WLSSD) gets back into town. Jerome will follow up with Tim. There seems to be some discrepancy between the numbers that Gary has and what WLSSD has.
Long Range Plan: Jerome stated that WLSSD is seeking input regarding its urban service boundary. Currently the north service boundary is the Beyer Road; WLSSD would like to change it to one mile north of the Martin Road. This would be good for five years. There was some discussion. Jeff stated that the Town would like to see the boundary all the way to the northern edge of the Township. Cammy doesn’t think that is necessary as there is a very small possibility of sewer lines going north to the Township line within the next five years. That was agreed. Jerome will prepare a letter for Jeff to sign for WLSSD.
Sanitary Sewer Repairs: Jerome will talk with Larry Shelton come April to discuss the final paving to be completed on 2nd Ave. N.
2010 Rates: Cammy passed around the proposed letters to be mailed to water and/or sewer customers. The rate increase was approved at the February Board Meeting. The flat fee on sewer service was increased from $6.75 to $10.59 and the per 1000 gallon fee increased from $9.60 to $10.16. For water, the flat fee remained unchanged and the per 1000 gallon fee increased from $10.20 to $10.76. Jeff stated that the average percentage for an average customer (2.5 people using 50 gallons per day for 30 days) was an increase of 8.67%.
Next meeting date: Cammy will be out of town for training on March 17; would we like to reschedule the meeting? The meeting was rescheduled for Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
2010 I&I Report: A motion to approve the task order for the 2010 I&I report in the amount of $3,500.00, to be prepared by MSA was made by John and seconded by Jeff. All vote in favor; motion carried.
Having no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
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